Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies two loci associated with circulating osteoprotegerin levels.

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is involved in bone homeostasis and tumor cell survival. Circulating OPG levels are also important biomarkers of various clinical traits, such as cancers and atherosclerosis. OPG levels were measured in serum or in plasma.

Simultaneous association of total energy consumption and activity-related energy expenditure with risks of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes among postmenopausal women.

Total energy consumption and activity-related energy expenditure (AREE) estimates that have been calibrated using biomarkers to correct for measurement error were simultaneously associated with the risks of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes among postmenopausal women who were enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative at 40 US clinical centers and followed from 1994 to the present. Calibrated energy consumption was found to be positively related, and AREE inversely related, to the risks of various cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and diabetes. These associations were not evident in most corresponding analyses that did not correct for measurement error.

Effects of escitalopram on markers of bone turnover: a randomized clinical trial.

Context: Recent observational studies have suggested that the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors is associated with an increased fracture risk and an accelerated bone loss, although conflicting results have been reported. Furthermore, because many of these studies have been performed in depressed women, confounding by indication may influence these findings.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine whether selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors affect bone metabolism Design: This was a randomized controlled trial.

Sexual function in women on estradiol or venlafaxine for hot flushes: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To evaluate sexual function in midlife women taking low-dose oral estradiol or venlafaxine for hot flushes.

Methods: In an 8-week randomized controlled trial among women aged 40-62 years, sexual function was compared between 0.5 mg oral estradiol per day or 75 mg venlafaxine per day (both compared with a placebo).

Low-dose estradiol and the serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor venlafaxine for vasomotor symptoms: a randomized clinical trial.

Importance: Estrogen therapy is the gold standard treatment for hot flashes and night sweats, but some women are unable or unwilling to use it because of associated risks. The serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor venlafaxine hydrochloride is used widely as a nonhormonal treatment. While the clinical impression is that serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are less effective than estrogen, these medications have not been simultaneously evaluated in one clinical trial to date.

Trajectories of positive aging: observations from the women's health initiative study.

Background: The purpose of this study was to describe the longitudinal trajectories and bidirectional relationships of the physical-social and emotional functioning (EF) dimensions of positive aging and to identify their baseline characteristics.

Methods: Women age 65 and older who enrolled in one or more Women's Health Initiative clinical trials (WHI CTs) and who had positive aging indicators measured at baseline and years 1, 3, 6, and 9 were included in these analyses (N = 2281). Analytic strategies included latent class growth modeling to identify longitudinal trajectories and multinomial logistic regression to examine the effects of baseline predictors on these trajectories.

Estimated intake of vitamin D and its interaction with vitamin A on lung cancer risk among smokers.

Data are very limited on vitamin D and lung cancer prevention in high-risk populations. The authors investigated whether estimated vitamin D intake was associated with lung cancer risk and whether effect modification by vitamin A existed among current/former heavy smokers and workers with occupational exposure to asbestos. A case-cohort study selected 749 incident lung cancers and 679 noncases from the Carotene and Retinol Efficacy Trial (CARET), 1988-2005.

Vitamin D intake determines vitamin d status of postmenopausal women, particularly those with limited sun exposure.

Few detailed data are available on the wide range of determinants of vitamin D status among postmenopausal women, and it is also unclear whether there may be undiscovered determinants. The objective of this study was to comprehensively evaluate determinants of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations in a large cohort of postmenopausal women. Data from a subset of the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study were analyzed (50-79 y; n = 3345).

Biomarker-calibrated protein intake and bone health in the Women's Health Initiative clinical trials and observational study.

Background: The effects of dietary protein on bone health are controversial.

Objective: We examined the relation between protein intake with fracture and bone mineral density (BMD) within the Women's Health Initiative (WHI).

Design: This prospective analysis included 144,580 women aged 50-79 y at baseline in the WHI clinical trials (CTs) and observational study (OS) that recruited participants in 1993-1998 with follow-up through 2011.

Magnesium intake, bone mineral density, and fractures: results from the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study.

Background: Magnesium is a necessary component of bone, but its relation to osteoporotic fractures is unclear.

Objective: We examined magnesium intake as a risk factor for osteoporotic fractures and altered bone mineral density (BMD).

Design: This prospective cohort study included 73,684 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study.

Cytokines in serum in relation to future non-Hodgkin lymphoma risk: evidence for associations by histologic subtype.

Specific associations for lymphoma in the general population suggest that chronic immune dysfunction/dysregulation may be associated with the development of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Furthermore, polymorphisms in several cytokine genes have been associated with increased lymphoma risk, most consistently with genes for TNF and IL10. To evaluate the hypothesis that prediagnostic circulating cytokine levels would be associated with increased B-cell lymphoma risk, we conducted a nested case-control study within the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study cohort involving 491 B-cell NHL cases and 491 controls.

Factors associated with successful discontinuation of hormone therapy.

Background: Careful management of symptoms, particularly sleep and mood disturbances, may assist women in discontinuing hormone therapy (HT). We sought to describe characteristics associated with successful HT cessation in women who attempted to discontinue estrogen pills/patches with or without progestin.

Methods: We invited 2,328 women, aged 45-70, enrolled January 1, 2005, to May 31, 2006, at Group Health in Washington State and Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates in Massachusetts, to participate in a telephone survey about HT practices.

Sedentary behavior and mortality in older women: the Women's Health Initiative.

Background: Although epidemiologic studies have shown associations between sedentary behavior and mortality, few have focused on older women with adequate minority representation and few have controlled for both physical activity and functional status.

Purpose: The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between sedentary time and total; cardiovascular disease (CVD); coronary heart disease (CHD); and cancer mortality in a prospective, multiethnic cohort of postmenopausal women.

Methods: The study population included 92,234 women aged 50-79 years at baseline (1993-1998) who participated in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study through September 2010.

Empirically based composite fracture prediction model from the Global Longitudinal Study of Osteoporosis in Postmenopausal Women (GLOW).

Context: Several fracture prediction models that combine fractures at different sites into a composite outcome are in current use. However, to the extent individual fracture sites have differing risk factor profiles, model discrimination is impaired.

Objective: The objective of the study was to improve model discrimination by developing a 5-year composite fracture prediction model for fracture sites that display similar risk profiles.

Patterns of technology use among older adults with and without disabilities.

Purpose Of The Study: The purpose of this study was to describe prevalence of technology use among adults ages 65 and older, particularly for those with disability and activity-limiting symptoms and impairments.

Design And Methods: Data from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study, a nationally representative sample of community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries (N = 7,609), were analyzed. Analysis consisted of technology use (use of e-mail/text messages and the internet) by sociodemographic and health characteristics and prevalence ratios for technology usage by disability status.

When, where and how osteoporosis-associated fractures occur: an analysis from the Global Longitudinal Study of Osteoporosis in Women (GLOW).

Objective: To examine when, where and how fractures occur in postmenopausal women.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Global Longitudinal Study of Osteoporosis in Women (GLOW), including women aged ≥55 years from the United States of America, Canada, Australia and seven European countries. Women completed questionnaires including fracture data at baseline and years 1, 2 and 3.

Biomarker-calibrated protein intake and physical function in the Women's Health Initiative.

Objectives: To determine whether preservation of physical function with aging may be partially met through modification in dietary protein intake.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Clinical Trials (CT) and Observational Study (OS) conducted at 40 clinical centers.

Obesity and late-age survival without major disease or disability in older women.

Importance: The effect of obesity on late-age survival in women without disease or disability is unknown.

Objective: To investigate whether higher baseline body mass index and waist circumference affect women's survival to 85 years of age without major chronic disease (coronary disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes mellitus, or hip fracture) and mobility disability.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Examination of 36,611 women from the Women's Health Initiative observational study and clinical trial programs who could have reached 85 years or older if they survived to the last outcomes evaluation on September 17, 2012.

Menopausal quality of life: RCT of yoga, exercise, and omega-3 supplements.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of 3 nonhormonal therapies for the improvement of menopause-related quality of life in women with vasomotor symptoms.

Study Design: We conducted a 12-week 3 × 2 randomized, controlled, factorial design trial. Peri- and postmenopausal women, 40-62 years old, were assigned randomly to yoga (n = 107), exercise (n = 106), or usual activity (n = 142) and also assigned randomly to a double-blind comparison of omega-3 (n = 177) or placebo (n = 178) capsules.

Associations of serum insulin-like growth factor-I and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 levels with biomarker-calibrated protein, dairy product and milk intake in the Women's Health Initiative.

It is well established that protein-energy malnutrition decreases serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I levels, and supplementation of 30 g of whey protein daily has been shown to increase serum IGF-I levels by 8 % after 2 years in a clinical trial. Cohort studies provide the opportunity to assess associations between dietary protein intake and IGF axis protein levels under more typical eating conditions. In the present study, we assessed the associations of circulating IGF axis protein levels (ELISA, Diagnostic Systems Laboratories) with total biomarker-calibrated protein intake, as well as with dairy product and milk intake, among postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative (n 747).

Menopausal hormone therapy and health outcomes during the intervention and extended poststopping phases of the Women's Health Initiative randomized trials.

Importance: Menopausal hormone therapy continues in clinical use but questions remain regarding its risks and benefits for chronic disease prevention.

Objective: To report a comprehensive, integrated overview of findings from the 2 Women's Health Initiative (WHI) hormone therapy trials with extended postintervention follow-up.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A total of 27,347 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 79 years were enrolled at 40 US centers.

Obesity, health-care utilization, and health-related quality of life after fracture in postmenopausal women: Global Longitudinal Study of Osteoporosis in Women (GLOW).

Fractures may be associated with higher morbidity in obese postmenopausal women than in nonobese women. We compared health-care utilization, functional status, and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in obese, nonobese, and underweight women with fractures. Information from the GLOW study, started in 2006, was collected at baseline and at 1, 2, and 3 years.

Efficacy of yoga for vasomotor symptoms: a randomized controlled trial.

Objective: This study aims to determine the efficacy of yoga in alleviating vasomotor symptoms (VMS) frequency and bother.

Methods: This study was a three-by-two factorial, randomized controlled trial. Eligible women were randomized to yoga (n = 107), exercise (n = 106), or usual activity (n = 142), and were simultaneously randomized to a double-blind comparison of ω-3 fatty acid (n = 177) or placebo (n = 178) capsules.